


The Surface of the Ocean

by IRegretNothingAndEverything



Series: HLVRAI Mermaid AU [4]
Category: Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Amputation, Blood, Bubby is there and now Gordon needs to tell them what actually happened, Gordon's missing an arm when Deep Dark Sea starts..., Hiding Injuries, Hiding the Truth behind injuries, Pain, Recovery, Revealing that truth, Trauamtic Injury, kind of, mermaid au, this is why
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:15:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26240248
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IRegretNothingAndEverything/pseuds/IRegretNothingAndEverything
Summary: Gordon goes up to the surface of the ocean sometimes. Not too high up, the pressure changed and it hurt a bit, but still.
Series: HLVRAI Mermaid AU [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1905055
Comments: 2
Kudos: 84





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> :) It had to happen bro

Gordon never really went up towards the surface. It wasn’t good for him, and, while the light was far too bright, it was still kind of pretty to see it filtering through the water, and Gordon had gotten just a bit distracted by it. It was beautiful, and unfortunately, it was distracting. 

He didn’t realize until it was a bit too late, as the net caught along his tail. He squirmed, claws tearing at it as he was dragged up, but didn’t manage to get away, as he was dragged up into the light, into the air, and it hurt, the lack of pressure, it hurt to breathe-

“What the fuck...” Gordon looked around, looking up at the group that dragged him up onto the deck of this ship, and he clawed at the net still wrapped around his tail, finally getting it free. Taking that, he flipped, going to drag himself towards the edge. 

“No, we can’t let this escape.” He heard, as one of the humans grabbed onto the end of his tail, hands slipping off, but there were more than one, and they surrounded him, as he flipped around, trying to find a way off the ship, back down into the water. Gordon didn’t see a way out, and, as the Humans came close again, was completely around him, and he lashed out, claws sinking into the flesh of the closest Human’s leg. 

They cried out, falling to the ground, and Gordon didn’t keep attacking, didn’t want to kill anyone, just wanted to get free, and tried again, tried to crawl across the deck, and felt another human land on top of him. Heavy, too heavy, and it just made him hurt more. He snarled, claws snatching out around him, catching onto flesh and tearing it apart, splatting blood across the deck. 

“Fuck it. We just need proof.” He felt his arms be pinned, and he screamed, trying to bite at the hands who pinned him, only to have a boot on his head, pushing it down onto the deck and holding him there, as he snarled. 

He cried out when the knife made contact, and fought harder, screaming as it sawed through his flesh, beginning to beg softly, which made them pause for just a moment, before the pain came back, as they hit bone, and Gordon sobbed harder, when finally it snapped under the pressure, and his flesh split off. 

Gordon was freed for just a second, as he rolled over, clinging his arm towards his chest, eyes flicking around nervously, as the human held up both a bloodied knife, and Gordon’s arm, grinning. The panic came back, and he flipped again, dragging himself across the deck, trying to get away-

The humans grabbed him again, and he screamed, lashing out, but as he bled, he lost strength, loosing his ability to see, eyes darting around the humans as they lifted him, and tossed him back. 

He sunk down into the water, watching as the ship began to disappear as he sunk further, blood creating a trail upwards, and Gordon shook, and dived, trying to get away, just get, get away from them, never go up again. 

There was no way he wouldn’t be tracked by this blood loss, and Gordon’s eyes darted around as he dived, water getting darker again, safer. For a moment, he paused, catching sight of something in the water.  
A shark tooth. 

Despite it all, Gordon began to think. The others loved the idea of humanity, despite the base down there with them, despite the cruelty of most of the humans down there. They were the exception, not the majority, right? Gordon didn’t want to ruin that for them but... No, no, they had to stay down here, just in case this happened again, and...  
He grabbed the tooth, staring at it, and felt his heart pound harder, as he tried to keep himself calm, the fear building up in his chest, and Gordon turned his head, and dug the tooth into the wound. 

Gordon sobbed out, but quieted again quickly. glancing down at the wound. There. There. It looked... like he had gotten attacked by a shark. Vaguely. They would listen if he showed this, don’t go up, be safe. It hurt so much, but Gordon thought it was worth it. He dived again, working fast, knowing he didn’t have much time left if he wanted to be alive to give them that warning. 

“Gordon?” He pretended to hide his arm behind his back, smiling towards Coomer, whose eyes darted towards his arm. Darnold was coming towards them behind him rather quickly, and he knew that Darnold had smelled the blood in the water, and Gordon relaxed just a bit. 

“Hey.... Coomer.” He grinned, and didn’t get another word out before Darnold was over there, slipping past Coomer to Gordon, grabbing at his arm to pull it around to the front, frowning at the tooth, eyes darting up towards Gordon’s face. He just smiled, and closed his eyes, feeling Coomer’s arms wrap around him to drag him back down to the den, safe, and Gordon let himself drift. Even if he died, they would be safe down here, away from the surface. That’s what mattered here, as Gordon drifted into black. 

They would be safe.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oliver wanted more angst, and thus I deliver.

His arm ached. That’s what he noticed first, the sharp pounding ache in his arm. He knew he was safe, he knew it, since he could hear Coomer humming above him, his hands slowly dragging through his hair. Gordon shifted, frowning as he woke up more. 

“Hey... there you are.” Gordon opened his eyes slowly, and Coomer smiled at him when he saw it. “Good on you for waking up. Darnold was a bit worried about it.” 

Gordon turned his head slightly, glancing around the den that he was in. From the looks of it, it was Coomer’s, though his eye sight was still a bit blurry as he looked. His head lolled to the left, catching a glimpse of his arm, wrapped in something he couldn’t identify, when Coomer blocked his view carefully, guiding his head back to look up at him. 

“Don’t worry about that for now, alright Gordon?” Gordon nodded slightly, looking up at him quietly. He wanted to tell Coomer. He wanted to say something, tell him the fear he had felt being yanked into the open air by human hands, pinned to the deck of a boat, his arm sawed off crudely, but Coomer had such love for humanity from the things littered around his den, and... Gordon couldn’t do it. 

He closed his eyes tightly, disguising it as pain from his arm, which wasn’t entirely far from the truth. Gordon couldn’t tell them. He couldn’t, he had to hide it, he wasn’t going to ruin the love they all had. 

“Gordon... why in the world did you try and fight a great white?” Coomer’s voice was sad, almost disappointed, and Gordon frowned, shaking his head. 

“Don’t... don’t worry about it.” He mumbled, turning his head away from his searching eyes, and Coomer sighed. Gordon knew that Coomer had figured out he was hiding something, but... Well, Gordon wasn’t going to say anything. Coomer went back to slowly dragging his hands through Gordon’s hair. 

“Just... don’t do it again?” 

Gordon nodded. He didn’t plan on going up there and losing his other arm. Benrey wormed his way into the den, curling up next to Gordon’s side, and Gordon sighed, relaxing a bit more with part of his school around them. The others might not fit in there with him, and Gordon was alright. His arm pounded to his heartbeat, and it slowly lulled him back to sleep, Coomer quietly beginning to hum one of the many human songs he had remembered.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some soft things to finish this out!

“Gordon.” He turned at the sound of his name, as Bubby swam closer, still a bit unsteady with it, staying a bit close to the ground, which Gordon assumed was a hold over from Bubby’s fear of heights, which Gordon didn’t fully understand, but didn’t say anything on. 

“Hey Bubby.” Joshua swam up to Bubby, as Bubby’s head light came on again, and Joshua circled his head, distracted by the light. Bubby dragged a hand down Joshua’s back, as the fish bonked directly into Bubby’s light. 

“I... I know your reasoning for not telling them the truth.” Gordon frowned, knowing exactly what Bubby meant. He turned, then moved forwards, scooping Joshua up away from Bubby’s head, letting them talk without Joshua distracting them. Joshua was distracted by Gordon’s own dim tail lights, bonking his head directly into Gordon’s tail. “I just don’t... They don’t come down here anymore, and none of us are planning on going up, and... hearing them make fun of you for something that didn’t actually happen...” 

Gordon sighed softly, nodding slowly. “I know. I... I’ve just kept it a secret since it happened, and telling the truth just seemed to be... not worth it, I guess?” 

“Okay, but you can see how stupid that is, right? They know, from my experiences, that Black Mesa is bad, and that humans there are bad, but humans can just... be cruel for no reason, Gordon.” Bubby folded his arms over his chest, and Gordon sighed, refusing to look at him, knowing the look on his face would wear him down faster. 

“I just-” 

“Wanted to protect them, I get it, but telling them the truth helps that.” Bubby swam up in front of him, grabbing his face to force him to look. “They can’t stay away from things they don’t know are dangerous.” 

Gordon sighed softly, but caved, nodding slightly. “Okay... Fine... Get them all together, I’ll... figure out how to tell them.” 

“Good.” And Bubby flipped, swimming off, one hand trailing along the sea floor as he swam off into the dark. 

Gordon settled under the alcove, curled up around Joshua, who settled on his coil and stared off into nothing. 

Tommy and Darnold were first over, Tommy carrying Forzen by his arms, pulling him over. Benrey was close behind, and Gordon was unsurprised to find Coomer and Bubby the last two, Coomer carrying Bubby over, Bubby hiding his face from view. The two of them never really got out of any sort of honeymoon stage, and Gordon found himself smiling despite what he knew was coming. 

“Are you alright Gordon?” Coomer asked, settling down across from him, letting Bubby slip between his arms onto the sandy floor, settling against his side. Benrey stole Forzen to drag him over across the sand, laying across Gordon’s tail. Tommy settled along the sand, Darnold settling next to him. “Bubby said you had something important to tell us!”   
Leave it to Bubby to leave no way out of this. Gordon sighed, closing his eyes for a moment, but felt their expectant gazes on them. 

“I didn’t lose my arm to a shark. I lost it to humans.” He muttered, keeping his eyes closed. “Got to high up, was dragged onto a ship and... sounded like they were going to take me to land, and of course, I freaked out... so they decided they just needed proof of my existence and uh... tossed me back when they were done with me. Just so happened to find a shark tooth on the way down, took advantage of it, and acted like I had just... made a dumb mistake.” 

He only opened his eyes when he felt Benrey shift and latch onto him tightly. Coomer hit his other side, Bubby shifting up behind Coomer. Darnold dragged Forzen in, since he was trying to get over to them, and Tommy curled himself around them all. Gordon frowned, but clung onto them tightly. 

No one said anything, until Bubby managed to someone get behind Gordon, balancing his head on his shoulder. “Told you it’d be fine.” 

Gordon elbowed him in the chest, only causing a soft wheezing laugh.


End file.
